A Tale of Two Old Boys’ Days

Big traditional schools come with the additional nuances of long-standing rivalries and old boys’ days which add a layer of interest to the matches. Throw in the attendance of some well-known old boys and you have a recipe for entertaining fixtures.

This past weekend saw two different old boys matches unfold with St Alban’s College beating St Stithians comfortably (36-14), and St David’s Marist losing narrowly to St Bendict’s (17-3) in a physical match dominated by some big tackles.

Rewatch both matches on SuperSport Schools (www.superschools.co.za).

St Stithians travelled across to St Alban’s College where the hosts put on a mighty performance to win the return fixture against their long-standing rivals.

The Hoops were particularly brutal scoring five tries amongst themselves, with a number of players getting their names onto the scorecard.

St Stithians struggled to keep up with the pace of play but were able to find the try line on two separate occasions once by lock Mathula Sikhakhane and the second by prop Keabetswe Mapukana. 

A special mention to Druan Visagie had a stellar game scoring the first try of the match and kicking well for St Alban’s notching up a total of 14 individual points.

St Stithian’s have an opportunity to bounce back against St Benedict’s College on Wednesday 14 June 2023, in their return fixture.

In the other match of the day St David’s Marist were eager to put on a show and were pumped up due to the excitement around their old boy’s day but could not hold back St Benedict’s College.

The home team drew first blood with a penalty from the boot of flyhalf Jayden Jagga, kicking over his first of three converted placement kicks for the day.

Outside centre Raymond Hassim, scored the first try of the day for Bennies with a long-range intercept, gathering the ball and making a sprint for the try line.

With a few well-worked phases with the forwards and some strong mauls, the away team scored again this time through eight-man Jason Cutler.

St David’s scored through Theo Fonternel after a poor kick-off receive by Bennies.

Bennies Fullback Onkgopotse Monaheng, kicked well for the visitors slotting over two conversions and a long range penalty kick.

At halftime, the score read 17-10 to Bennies, but St David’s would have felt in a good position to claw themselves back into contention, knowing that they had their home support behind them.

It was a very physical match with plenty of tackles between the two sides and a large number of double hits coming in the second half, with both teams picking up a yellow card each.

St David’s chucked absolutely everything at Bennies. With seven maul attempts inside St Benedict’s twenty-two, St Davids were not going to give up as victory was well within their grasp.

St David’s held most of the possession, but St Benedict’s absorbed the pressure very well ensuring that the home team did not score any further points.

Another feisty performance will be needed from St David’s against The Hoops on Friday 16 June 2023. The Pretorian school have found a winning formula since making a few changes to the make-up of their side. St Alban’s College have now won two matches on the trot.

Scorers:

St Alban’s College 36 (29) – Tries: Druan Visagie, Luke Webber, Lloyd Schneeburger, John-Joshua Steenkamp, Cody Petersen. Conversions: Druan Visagie (3), Penalties: Druan Visagie. St Stithians College 14 (7) –Tries: Mathula Sikhakhane, Keabetswe Mapukana. Conversions: Lebo Mafolo  (2).

St Benedict’s College 17 (10) – Tries: Raymond Hassim, Jason Cutler. Conversions: Onkgopotse Monaheng (2) Penalties: Onkgopotse Monaheng. St David’s Marist 13 (10) – Tries: Theo Fonternel. Conversions: Jayden Jagga (2) Penalties: Jayden Jagga.

The teams:

St Alban’s College: 15 Luke Sass, 14 Michael Rider, 13 John-Joshua Steenkamp, 12 Tumelo Mohale, 11 Nkosi Malaza, 10 Druan Visage, 9 John Verster, 8 Daniel Bouwer, 7 Matthew Price, 6 Patrick Weir, 5 Llyod Schneeberger, 4 William Von Broembsen, 3 Craig Milne, 2 Luke Webber, 1 Cody Petersen.

St Stithian’s College: 15 Lebo Molofo, 14 Ben Parkinson, 13 Sean Strydom, 12 Gabriel Hore, 11 Tinashe Gweshe, 10 Nthableneg Mafole,  9 Aidan Appalsamy, 8 Tashinga Chingonzo, 7 TiagoKostov, 6 Ethan Jacobs, 5 Thato Madziwanyika, 4 Ryan Zvinavashe, 3 Keabetswe Mapukana, 2 Braedon Hollingworth, 1 Branden Lightfoot.

St Davids Marist: 15 Teegan Rossini, 14 Luke Bailey, 13 Theo Fonternal, 12 Isaac Amadasun, 11 Cameron Simmonds, 10 Jayden Jagga (vice-captain), 9 Joshua West, 8 Tristan Grimett, 7 Daniel Fellingham, 6 Max Nader, 5 Jack Brady,4 Ryan Daye, 3 D’Andre Mushonga, 2 Brandon Archer, 1 Mariano Paolantonio (captain).

St Benedict’s College: 15 Onkgopotse Monaheng, 14 Ntelezi, 13 Raymond Hassim, 12 Uche Ejike, 11 Nathi Beda, 10 Jason Pengelley, 9 Sabelo Shangase (captian), 8 Jason Cutler, 7 Thando Jadezweni, 6 Byron Smit, 5 Declan Murphy, 4 Luke Carr, 3 Victor Goncalves, 2 Michael Mundove, Daniel Walsh (vice-captain).

Results:

u19A: St Alban’s College 36, St Stithians College 14

u19A: St David’s Marist 13, St Benedict’s College 17